This week Nara Malone visits the blog again. I met Nara online in 2011 when I messaged her about a recipe for baked peaches ice cream at the end of one of her books. We've had all sorts of cool adventure since then. Nara writes paranormal romance, and contemporary sci-fi romance. Her upcoming release is THE SNOW LEOPARD'S TALE, and her tagline is Taking Romance into the Next Dimension. Today I asked Nara what she does when she gets stuck in a scene.

BBTF: What do you do when you get stuck while writing a scene?

Nara: Meet Kodie and KatyDid, two of the main characters from The Grizzly’s Tale, coming at you in October from my new publisher, Troll River Publications. I was stuck in the scene where Kodie first enters the story as one of the three male heroes. I knew the reason the scene was giving me trouble because I needed to know Kodie better. So I set Katy down in his “Spirit Bear” cave, cued Hare Krishna (from Wah!) on the playlist and put it on repeat. I put Kodie beside her and set them in a looping Tai Chi routine. After a few minutes, Kodie started talking to me.

As technical as this looks, it’s really not hard. I’ve taught newbies how to do just what I did there in under a minute. Someone asked me not long ago if I storyboard scenes I write. I said I practice 3D storyboarding. In the few years we’ve had our grid, our authors have created more than 80 different sets that we can call up and set characters in to immerse ourselves in the setting we want to write about. Then it is simply a matter of bringing in the characters and listening as they start to whisper their stories in my ear.

I did the same when I wrote The Snow Leopards Tale. Putting a leopard in an SUV clued me into the act that a leopard’s tail is extremely long and prone to winding up in places where it will cause trouble. When you are trying to close the hatch door, how to you convince a really pissed leopard that it wants to pull its tail inside. When you’re trying to hide with a leopard, that tale can get twitchy and creep out around the corner of a hiding place at the worst times. All information that set the wheels turning and the plot thickening.

What a creative way to storyboard and see more than usual, Nara. You can find out more about Nara Malone's books at her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!